Category: Financial

I need to get real about my finances. For the last 6 months I’ve been pretending that things are going to plan but they’re not. I’m living pay check to pay check again which I hate. This isn’t as dire as it sounds. I do have savings and am paying off everything I need to but I can’t work out why I feel I need so many things. I’ve been actively working at minimising yet I go out and buy new things I don’t need. I buy clothes when I’m doing Project 333 and have donated half my wardrobe. I get caught up in things I do need – yesterday I bought a new planner for next year. It cost me $89. Did I need to spend that much? No because a $10 planner would be sufficient.

Why do I do this to myself?

Mindset.

My mindset is not right for what I want to be achieving. For one, I’m influenced by social media. I’m 100% aware that social media is not real life. But I follow a lot of coaches and health/well-being people on Instagram and they’re just so damn productive with their planners, mugs, notebooks and pens and I think “damn, if I have those things I’ll be productive too!” I know it’s a lie. And I know that it won’t help but for some reason I don’t stop myself.

Another reason is that I don’t have a lot of spending money once I’ve taken care of bills, savings and other essentials. Once I go over I think “well fuck it, I may as well blow it.” A solution could be more breathing room. I’m going to spend a bit of time working out what I’m spending again following my money method that I outlined here.

We’ve gone through some big changes this year and financially we’ve spent a lot. We’re still in the process of renovating, I had expensive surgery and booked holidays that we’ve paid for up-front. Whilst we haven’t been frivolous with our money, we haven’t exactly been careful either.

I think there’s a fine line when it comes to spending and saving. I want to be careful with my spending but still feel free to make choices without having that anxiety-inducing moment.

Back to the planner I bought yesterday. Whilst it’s certainly a lot of money, I worked out it ends up being approximately $1.70 per week. But I anguished over this choice for weeks and I don’t want that. I want to feel confident in the choices I’m making. I want to intrinsically know that it’s ok to spend money on things that are useful and important, especially when I can afford to and it’s not impacting anything else. But that is where the problem lies. It is impacting other things so until I get that sorted I’ll feel either anxious or ambivalent about every purchase I make.

So, my aim for the rest of this year is to get my finances sorted so I can start 2018 fresh.

October is going to be another big one in terms of over spending. There’s a number of things that I didn’t do in September that I want to purchase in October. These are mostly holiday related expenses. I did knock a few of those out last month but they weren’t the ones that I actually wanted to pay for but they needed to be done regardless and now they are.

Here is what I plan on spending in October

One piece bathers – up to $100.00

High waisted bloomers/dance shorts – up to $50.00

Heels for dancing – up to $80.00

Accomodation for QLD – up to $1500.00

Flights to NZ – up to $1000.00

Money for Oktober festival event – up to $100.00

Uber for friend’s engagement party – up to $50.00

Car Registration – $800.00

Twerk Class – $100.00

Additional dance class – $100.00

House of Dior exhibition tickets – $26.00

Doctors appointment – $80.00

This is my list of additional purchases.

Black loafers/shoes for work – up to $150.00

A new water bottle that tallies how many bottles have been drunk, is BPA free and made of glass – $50.00I bought this last month.

Single serve bowls that can be microwaved x 4 – up to $50.00I’ve decided I no longer want this item. Initially I wanted these for single serve soups/casseroles but now it’s coming into summer I’m going take these off my list until next year

iPod – $219.00
Item is no longer available

iPod Touch – $258 – $298
I haven’t decided which one I want, the 16GB or the 32GB. I’ll wait and see what sort of vouchers I get for Christmas before deciding

Flat black ankle boots – up to $200

I had an update with the new door. The permit has only just been assigned to a case officer so hopefully we’ll have some sort of idea of costs in the next couple of weeks. My fiance’s roster has changed so it means he won’t be getting as much overtime as he previously was so I may have to put a hold on the furniture and artwork but that’s ok. It’s nearing Christmas so I may be able to score some cash or vouchers for those sorts of things.

September was an expensive month. I knew it would be so I was prepared. I had some savings money transferred across to my everyday account so I could pay off my credit card as soon as I needed to. Although I went well over budget, I already had the money for most of the excess so that’s always a bonus.

Here is what I spent

Make up – up to $50.00
I bought a few lipsticks and nail polishes – $33.36

Train ticket for check up with the surgeon – $6.00
As always, exactly $6.00

Train ticket for final check up with surgeon – $6.00
Again, exactly $6.00

Flights to Brisbane – up to $700.00
$435.72

Book accommodation for QLD – up to $1500.00
Haven’t done this yet so will transfer over to October spending

Flights to NZ – up to $1000.00
Also haven’t done this so will also be transferred to October spending

Nephew’s Birthday present – $100.00
I already had purchased a couple of books for him but he now has a bank account so I gave him $50.00

Food for Grand Final Day BBQ – up to $100.00
Fiance’s paid for this so $0.00

Doctors appointment – $80.00
I never made this specific doctors appointment but I did go to the doctor as I was sick but it was a bulk billing surgery so it came to $0.00

This is my list of additional purchases.

Black loafers/shoes for work – up to $150

A new water bottle that tallies how many bottles have been drunk, is BPA free and made of glass – $50
As mentioned above, I purchased a new water bottle. I’m not 100% happy with it – it doesn’t fit in my car’s cup holder, it makes a whistling noise when I drink out of it and it doesn’t have a counter for how many bottles I have drunk but it’s the closest I could find to what I wanted so it will do – $24.95

Single serve bowls that can be microwaved x 4 – up to $50

iPod – $219

Here is what else I purchased during September

Kmart – $27.00
I bought the book 13 Reasons Why, a game and stockings

Dollar Store – $31.47
I bought a birthday card, a storage box and some paint supplies

Google Play – $54.99
I purchased the Asana Rebel app for the year. I haven’t really used it much

LA Dance Studio – $100.00
I enrolled in a 6 weeks Twerking class. I started it a couple of weeks ago and am really enjoying it

Cotton On – $50.00
I purchased new shorts for the twerking class and also a new set of summer pjs

Nourished life – $68.90
I purchased another lip gloss and hand cream as part of my Self Love Week Challenge BUT this also included a water bottle so I can now cross that off my Additional Purchases list!

Bali Accommodation – $2128.26
I paid for the accommodation for our second week in Bali for next year

Passport Renewal – $277.00
Had to be renewed because my face has changed due to the jaw surgery I had a couple months back and also because it was expiring next year

Photos for passport – $16.95
Pretty self explanatory

Travel insurance – $161.00
Because I am not an idiot. Honestly it baffles me that people spend thousands on a holiday and just can’t be bothered paying a couple hundred dollars to insure their trip

Bali flights – $1201.00
Booked with Jetstar. I wanted to go with Garuda as I prefer flying with them but Jetstar worked out to be $500 cheaper between the two of us so it won out

Deposit for my wedding dress – $2229.65
I’ve decided to get my wedding dress made, so this portion of the fee is to cover all the fabrics. Hopefully the dressmaker gets in touch with me today and I’ll have a better idea of what the additional cost will be. I’ve been told to expect around $1800.

It occurred to me last night that Medicare still haven’t sent back my anaesthetist bill which means I haven’t been able to claim that back from my private health insurance yet. I’ll need to make sure I follow up on that. There’s a lot that I need to carry over to next month but again, they were things that I had planned – just wasn’t sure when I wanted to actually pay for them.

I’ve realised it’s been a long time since I’ve put money into the mortgage. I’ve been putting money into my savings account every month but not so much the mortgage. I’ve been lucky that my fiance has been working a lot of overtime so he’s been putting in enough to cover both our share and then some which has been great. I on the other hand have been using that money to pay off all my various medical fees because I didn’t want to transfer money from our offset account if I didn’t need to.

September Spending

Make up – up to $50.00

Train ticket for check up with the surgeon – $6.00

Train ticket for final check up with surgeon – $6.00

Flights to Brisbane – up to $700.00

Book accommodation for QLD – up to $1500.00

Flights to NZ – up to $1000.00

Nephew’s Birthday present – $100.00

Food for Grand Final Day BBQ – up to $100.00

Doctors appointment – $80.00

This is my list of additional purchases.

Black loafers/shoes for work – up to $150.00

A new water bottle that tallies how many bottles have been drunk, is BPA free and made of glass – $50.00

Single serve bowls that can be microwaved x 4 – up to $50.00

iPod – $219.00 Note – I’m not sure about this item anymore. The specific iPod I wanted seems to no longer be for sale and the next one up is $299 and is the size of a phone so I’m not entirely sure I want to purchase this. I’m going to keep it on the list for a couple of months whilst I shop around for the one I want

Flat black ankle boots – up to $200

I feel like there is more but for the life of me I can’t think of anything else. My diary doesn’t have many plans in them for this month that requires spending but that seems like a very little, albeit expensive list. I’ve also added another item to my additional list. A pair of flat black ankle boots. I have wedged and heeled boots but not flat ones so I’d like a pair to add to my wardrobe.

The money I sent to the ATO for my HECS debt was returned to me. Obviously it didn’t go through so I’ve put that money back into savings. I’m still waiting for medicare to approve the rebate for the anesthetist bill so I can take it to the private health insurance.

In the next couple of months I’m going to start looking at purchasing new furniture and artwork for the house. I’m hoping that in the next couple of months the new door and floors will have been put in so I can start looking at what I want to do with the rooms. These purchases will most likely go into additional purchases as they will be purchases as I find things that I like.

When I started writing this post, I thought I had massively overspent in August but looking at the numbers, my budgeted expenses weren’t too far off. I did overspend a lot on extra things but again, it wasn’t too bad considering some of it were bills that I didn’t know were due.

Rates Payment – $1432.00
Paid off the rates in total which was $1432.00

Body Corporate bill – $350.00 (I’m not sure if this is actually coming but I haven’t paid one in a while so I’m anticipating it’s arrival)
It arrived and it is due in October. I still paid it off this month because there is just no point waiting until next month – $345.75

Father’s Day gift – $50.00
We got my dad a really nice bottle of whiskey which was $100 so my portion was $50.00

Nephew’s birthday present – $50.00
I bought him another book which was $18.00

Beautiful You course repayment – $396.00
Payment was exactly $396.00

Dinner out as a last hurrah – $150.00
Dinner ended up being $220.00 between 4 of us. I ended up paying the whole bill with the other couple sending their half to my fiance. I let him keep it seeing as normally our friends send me their share when my fiance pays.

This is my list of additional purchases.

Black loafers/shoes for work – up to $150

A new water bottle that tallies how many bottles have been drunk, is BPA free and made of glass – $50

Single serve bowls that can be microwaved x 4 – up to $50

iPod – $219 (new item)

Again, I didn’t purchase anything off my additional purchases list but I did purchase a whole bunch of other stuff. I was very bored whilst at home and my recovery was so much better than I anticipated so buying things was a bit of a distraction. Here is how I overspent this month.

Credit Card Annual Fee – $100.00
I didn’t even know I had an annual fee on my card so I’ve recorded it for next year

ASOS – $124.00
I bought a few dresses on ASOS because I want to start wearing them more. They’re pretty plain but they do the job. I am returning one so I’ll get that money back shortly

Diffusers – $29.90
My fiance and I decided that we wanted a couple more diffusers for our house. We have one in the laundry and one in the bathroom upstairs so we decided to add one in the lounge room and one in the kitchen

Zoo Trip – $72.00
I wanted to go to the Zoo during my recovery period as I haven’t been in a couple of years so we went a couple of weeks ago

Vistaprint – $32.93
My fiance and I realised that our wedding is now 12 months away and we hadn’t yet ordered any save the date cards so we ordered some to send out

Accor Discount Accommodation – $149.00
I was given a discount for some accommodation to use at an Accor hotel so I took the opportunity and purchased it. This is good as we are planning to go to QLD in November so we’ll be able to use these two nights whilst we are there

Haircut – $25.00
I was so overdue for a haircut. It’s been literally 2 years since my last haircut and it was so manky with it’s split ends

St Vinnies – $27.00
I went op shopping as I was really bored at home and bought 3 tops, 2 books and 2 dvds. Overall I was really happy with my haul

RACV Roadside Assist fee – $99.75
My bill came this month for my roadside assist. I haven’t used it in 8 years but I’m sure the second I don’t have it I will need it

Catch up lunch with friends – $70.00
I paid for myself and for my fiance. For a meal that was just pancakes and a milkshake on my end, it was a really expensive lunch. Note to self – when splitting bills, order the same amount of food as everyone else!

iHerb order – $52.55
I’ve decided I want to make my own hair care so I needed to buy a bunch of oils and ingredients in order to do it. I’ll be doing a post soon on how it all goes

I was able to claim back a fair bit of money from my surgery. I got back about $1300 from Medicare and another $400 from my private health insurance. I’m still waiting for my claim for the anesthetist to be processed so I can get some money back on that and then also claim it on my health insurance. With this money I actually made a voluntary repayment on my HECS debt but as would have it with government websites, I’m still waiting to see if it actually worked. I also did my tax refund which I was notified that I would be getting back shortly so that’s good news.

You’ll notice that I don’t include many items that other people would. I don’t include my phone bill, netflix payments, monthly donations, groceries or petrol expenses. This is because the bills and donations don’t vary from month to month and the groceries and petrol are things I don’t really have a budget for – if I need them I get them so I figured it’d be difficult to stick to a budgeted cost when I don’t actually have a budget for those things. I’m also going to stop including the Beautiful You course repayments because they will remain the same for the next 10 months.

Again, I know it looks like a lot of money and it is but as I’ve said previously, I still put away a portion of my pay to save for future bills and so if I can pay the whole lot out of my monthly pay without transferring the savings over, it means I’m actually saving a lot more than I planned. So I’m actually really quite happy with the amount I’ve spent.

August should, in theory be a quiet month. My jaw surgery is tomorrow (eek!) and I will be staying at my parents for a couple of weeks. I think most of my expenses this month will be train tickets to get to the surgeon for check ups.

August Spending

Train ticket for surgeon appointment number 1 – $6.00

Train ticket for surgeon appointment number 2 – $6.00

Rates Payment – $1432.00

Body Corporate bill – $350.00 (I’m not sure if this is actually coming but I haven’t paid one in a while so I’m anticipating it’s arrival)

Father’s Day gift – $50.00

Nephew’s birthday present – $50.00

Beautiful You course repayment – $396.00

Dinner out as a last hurrah – $150.00

This is my list of additional purchases.

Black loafers/shoes for work – up to $150

A new water bottle that tallies how many bottles have been drunk, is BPA free and made of glass – $50

Single serve bowls that can be microwaved x 4 – up to $50

iPod – $219 (new item)

Doorbell – purchased last month by fiance

I haven’t added anything new to the additional purchases list. I think I will probably get the iPod this month but I’ll see how I feel in terms of getting out of the house and driving. Although I don’t have it as part of my intentional spending list, I think my grocery bill will decrease significantly as I’ll be buying mostly fruit and veggies to blend into smoothies.

I spent an extra $957.95. Whilst it is a lot, I’ve included the water bill in there. Part of my savings strategy is to put away money for these types of bills but if I can, I like to just pay them out of my everyday account because then the money I’ve put in the savings can be moved to an actual savings account. The course is something I’m going to have to be really mindful of because it is almost $400.00 extra a month that I knew about but didn’t really realise it if you get me. I know I can do it – it may mean tweaking how much I’m putting away for stuff for a few months.

I also bought an item that wasn’t on my list nor was it on my clothing list but an item I realised I wanted whilst reading Natalie’s Intentional Spending post and that is a leather jacket. Initially I wanted a real leather jacket and was happy to spend up to $300.00 but wasn’t happy with anything I’d found. I was in Target one day wandering and found a faux leather jacket that I quite liked. It had silver hardware which was good as I don’t like the gold and whilst it had zip details it didn’t go overboard. Plus it was on sale for $39.00 so I decided to buy it. I’m really happy with the purchase because it was pretty much exactly how I envisioned what I wanted except it’s not actual leather.

I didn’t purchase anything under the Additional Purchases however my fiance did end up buying a doorbell. I’m fairly sure it’s haunted as it makes a weird barking/electronic noise in the middle of the night but it’s a doorbell that I did not have to pay for so it’s now crossed off the list.